Ali and Nino

Just finished reading “Ali and Nino” tonight.

Melissa had bought the book for me on one of her last business trips to Azerbeidshan.

Summary:

“It is the eve of World War I in Baku, Azerbeidshan, a city poised precariously between east and west. Ali Kan Shirvanshir, a Muslim schoolboy from a proud, aristocratic family, has fallen in love with the beautiful and enigmatic Nino Kipiani, a Christian girl with distinctly European sensibilities. To be together they must overcome blood feuds and scandal, traveling from the bustling streets of oil-boom Baku through starkly beautiful deserts and remote mountain villages to the opulent palace of Ali’s uncle in neighboring Persia. Ultimately the lovers are drawn back to Baku, but when war threatens their future, Ali is forced to choose between his loyalty to the beliefs of his Asian ancestors and his profound devotion to Nino.”

It was first publish in 1937 in German in Vienna and was written by Kurban Said. Which is interesting in itself as no one is really clear who Kurban Said is. They believe that to the pseudonym for two different people; Baroness Elfriede Ehrenfels and Lev Nussimbaum. No one really knows who wrote what part and how the book came about.

Actually was just reading more about this on the net, and read that they determined it was Lev Nussimbaum who wrote the book but that he courted the Baroness while he lived in Berlin for some time.

At any rate the book was quite an interesting read. I enjoyed the mix of cultures and knowledge gained about the era, the people and the country. This is probably the reason why I enjoyed it so much. I thought it hard to determine whether it was a love story between Ali and Nino or that of Ali and his country. If I had to choose one it would probably be the latter. Anyways, a beautiful story which I recommend.